


another dawn

by purpleho



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: But Not Really Hate Sex, Enemies to Lovers, Friends to Enemies, Hate Sex, M/M, Misunderstandings, Rape/Non-con Elements, Slight Internalized Homophobia, light Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-19 03:27:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29868429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purpleho/pseuds/purpleho
Summary: They come together. They break apart. They bloom anew.
Relationships: Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom
Comments: 7
Kudos: 140





	another dawn

**Author's Note:**

> Love these two. Comments are always appreciated.

They met by chance really. It was Kaoru’s first year of high school. He was dubbed the “weird loner kid” fairly quickly with his long, unnaturally dyed hair, his lip piercing, and his inability to socialize like a normal human being. 

He was in his “rebellious phase”, more hellbent on making his parents mad than anything else, and his next stint was picking up a skateboard at a local shop and taking it out for a whirl. His parents hated anything “alternative” and “street”, so he figured skating would boil their blood just as much as the other things he was up to. 

But the second he tried to step on the skateboard he bailed out flat on his ass. It hurt like hell and he swore he must have shattered his tailbone or something.

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath, standing back up slowly and kicking the board on its side in a bout of frustration.

He’d have to take it back. He couldn’t do this. 

But he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. 

“First time?”

Something about that phase made his heart pound and his face heat up, an embarrassing shade of red splashing across the bridge of his nose. 

He turned and instantly recognized Nanjo Kojiro and Shindo Ainosuke from his class. It was Nanjo who had a hand on Kaoru’s shoulder, who gave it a squeeze, who smiled at him with reassurance.

“We can teach you.”

  
  
  


“We” ended up being Kojiro. Ainosuke was the one who invited them out, showed them cool new tracks they could run around town, but he was always in his own little world when it came to skating. He concerned himself little with Kaoru’s novice.

  
  


“He’s not a bad kid, I don’t think so anyway. Just has a hard time...functioning.” 

Kojiro had his hands on Kaoru’’s waist lighty, he slowly walked beside his board and helped Kaoru keep balance as he skated down a small slope for the first time. 

“Just like me. Guess you have a knack for attracting strays.”

  
  


Kojiro let go and watched Kaoru gracefully skate down the slope in the street. He didn’t fall and he was even able to break when he got to the bottom and the ground turned flat.

He smiled to himself, pleased, and turned around to gloat at Kojiro who he expected to still be standing at the top of the hill. 

But Kojiro was right beside him, panting from having run down to catch up.

“You’re nothing like him,” Kojiro said between deep breaths, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips and sweat on his brow.

_ I like you better than him _ is what Kaoru heard. 

  
  
  


They became close friends, somehow, though Ainosuke remained the glue that held their mock friend group together. They’d probably never cross paths if Ainosuke wasn’t the catalyst, if he didn’t set things into motion for the two of them, light a fire under them that made them want to skate better if for no other reason than to get as good as him, to surpass him. 

Kaoru began to wonder why Kojiro never sought him out on his own. But Kaoru realized he himself was no better. He didn't know how to reach out. How to keep the flow of things when they weren’t already together. He just didn’t know.

  
  
  


Their hang out spot became an abandoned mine on the outskirts of the shopping district. The terrain wasn’t the best but they could pull plenty of tricks on the slopes and crumbled rocks. 

Kaoru and Kojiro sat together at the bottom, watching Ainosuke skate up and down, testing the extreme limits of his speed. It was almost scary to watch him. He could die if he bailed out skating like that on such steep slopes with jagged edges all around. But neither Kojiro nor Kaoru could say a thing

  
  


“Can’t believe we’ll be graduating in a few months,” Kojiro says offhandedly. He pulls his knees up to his chest and hugs them, face dropping into the saddest expression Kaoru has ever seen grace his handsome face.

“What’s that all about, dunceface? We’ll still hang out all the time. Not like I'm going to disappear off the face of the earth.”

  
  


“Promise?” Kojiro says

“Huh? Of course I promise.”

They smile at each other. Soft and sweet, simple. It's always been simple. Nothing will change, Kaoru convinces himself. Nothing at all. 

  
  
  


Everything changes. A month before graduation they realize Ainosuke has gone off the deep end. He’s hurting people for some sick twisted reason. Making skaters bail out and muttering some crazy shit about finding “the one”.

Ainosuke goes off to America for college soon after. Leaving two weeks before graduation. 

Somehow Kojirou and Kaoru end up at the abandoned mine together one last time. It makes Kaoru’s heart race. Maybe it really can be just them. They can get better at reaching out to each other, they can keep up the same routines, hang out more outside of skating, they can-

“I'm going to Italy for culinary school.” 

Kaouru’s world crashes to a halt. He doesn’t think he’s breathing for the first few seconds. 

“What?” He whispers, brain still trying to catch up, heart aching.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I, I was really going to do something else. But I- I failed the college entrance exam. Cooking’s really the only thing I'm good at, just like you always say, heh. It's crazy that they’d accept me overseas just like that. I can’t pass it up. “

“Don’t go,” is all Kaoru can muster in response, tears welling up in his eyes.

Kojirou is all he has, all he’s ever had. His best friend. His-

“Kaoru-”

Kaoru kisses him. 

It's not a good kiss. Kaoru has no experience so all he can really do is slot his mouth awkwardly on top of Kojiro’s. He doesn’t know what to do. How to move. And It doesn’t take long to realize Kojiro isn’t reciprocating. 

He pulls away.

“Are you a homo?”

It cuts deep. It's not the worst thing Kojiro could have said, not the f slur, though it might as well have been. Kojiro looks at him with confusion, not disgust, not pity. Just confusion. 

But to Kaoru it's all the same. 

They part ways without another word. And then Kojiro is gone. 

  
  
  
  


Ainosuke returns before Kojiro and turns their old hangout into “S”. Something about it boils Kaoru’s blood. That place had been special to him, to them, and now a bunch of trashy skater kids had overrun it.

He goes anyway. Checks out the scene. Skates beefs against a bunch of randos with the AI board he had worked on developing for years, and realizes he’s still got it. 

Ainosuke is still the same, though now he goes by Adam. Kaoru resolves to stop him. Somehow.

  
  
  


Kojiro returns and crashes through everything like the whirlwind he had always been in Kaouru’s life.

Kaoru had heard murmurings of a new skater in town, “Joe”. Some huge guy that gets amazing speed and could somehow pull crazy tricks even with his insane size and body weight. Kaouru shows up at S for the first time in a while to scope the guy out. And of course it's Kojiro

He’s gotten so  _ big _ . So  _ hot  _ and it's infuriating to see him standing there with his shirt off, girls hanging off of each of his toned arms. It had been close to six years since they’d seen each other and Kojiro just shows up unannounced in the only place that Kaoru feels free, rubbing in how great he's been without him? 

It hurts. 

“Whats a stupid fucking gorilla like you doing on a board?” Kaoru spits, storming over when the girls have moved away, and out of ear shot.

  
  


Kojiro turns, seeming entirely too shocked. When he sees Kaoru his face drops, hurt feelings surfacing in some dumb, pitiful expression.

Why the fuck does  _ he  _ look hurt? 

“I didn’t think you’d still be skating.” Kojiro says softly. Too softly. 

It stops Kaoru in his tracks. 

“What? Why would I have stopped skating?”

“Well… you were only still doing it because of me at the end, weren't you? And then I was...gone. I just thought…” 

Irrational anger boils up and spills over in Kaouru’s chest.

“Did you think my whole life revolved around you or something, narcissist?”

Joe’s eyes widen, then his browns furrow. 

“You’re the one who said it did, scrawny bitch.”

_ Swear I wouldn’t have anything to do without you around, Kojiro. Feels like you’re my whole life sometimes. _

He remembers that. He remembers. 

“Gorilla,” Kaoru says through gritted teeth.

“Bitch,” Kojiro doubles down on.

It hacks at his heart harder that time. He knew he was being a bitch but Kojiro didn’t have to go and say it. He didn’t have to say it.

  
  
  
  


They bicker like that again. And again. Sometimes the insults are empty, but sometimes they’re filled with pure hatred. Kaoru didn’t even know he was harboring such animosity towards Kojiro for all this time. Kaoru also didn’t know Kojiro was harboring that much for him either. 

  
  
  


They finally end up beefing.

“If I win you have to help me clean up my restaurant after closing for a week.” 

It's surprisingly...tame. Kaoru is confused at that. Kojiro could have used this opportunity to get back at him, to lash out at him in any way he wanted but he just…

“Fine. You’ll have to be my assistant for a week then.” 

Kojiro smiles slightly at him. Just a small upturn of his lips that many would miss. But Kaoru remembers that smile. He remembers when Kojiro would watch him pull a new trick for the first time and he would smile just like that, trying to be discrete, trying to hide the unadulterated affection in his gaze. But Kaoru saw. He saw everything. 

  
  
  


Kaoru’s not sure if he lets Kojiro win or if he was just distracted. It's only a difference of 0.1 seconds. But still. He loses pathetically. 

  
  
  


Kojirou’s restaurant seems different when it's just the two of them. The lights are somehow dimmer, the mood more mellow than when it's packed with customers, or when the kids that always follow them around are there. 

Kojiro doesn’t say anything when Kaoru arrives, just continues to busy himself wiping down countertops. So Kaoru picks up a broom and gets to work.

He notices some pictures on the back wall he hadn’t seen before. Pictures of Kojiro holding culinary awards, pictures at restaurant openings, pictures with people he doesnt recognize that are probably something big in the culinary world. 

“You know, It's kind of shocking to me how well you’ve done for yourself,” Kaoru says.

Silence. 

“I knew you would fail the college entrance exam. You weren’t prepared and the notes you showed me back then were fucking horible. I thought you would stay, though. I thought you would stay and I could help you do something else. But you just had to go out there and be really good at whatever the fuck you were doing, without me. You just had to go and grow up. You’re still kinda dumb, though. You should be careful or your business will go under before you know it-”

He’s shoved against the wall out of nowhere, head crashing against one of the picture frames and knocking it to the ground. Kojiro’s hands are on his shoulders, pinning him in place, squeezing him so tight he could probably crack bone. He’s mad. Really mad. Kaoru’s never seen him that mad.

“Were you always looking down on me back then?”

“Huh? No, I didn’t-”

Kojiro slams him back again, rattling his entire frame.

“You thought I’d never amount to anything without you?” 

Kojirou looks at him, face pulled into an ugly grimace, eyes wide and wild. 

“I didn’t  _ want  _ you to amount to anything without me.” 

“Fucking contol freak,” Kojirou says.

And then they’re kissing. 

It's not gentle and sweet, like it could have been when they were kids who didn’t know anything about how damn hard life was. 

It’s harsh, and ugly. Kojiro bites Kaoru's bottom lip and draws blood, keeps him pinned against the wall and kicks at his ankles to make him lose his footing, to make him completely weak in Kojiro’s hold. 

So Kaoru fights back. He clacks their teeth together and grabs at Kojiro’s wrists, digging his long fingernails into the flesh.

Kojiro drops him, lets him fall to the floor and try to scramble back to his feet. He can’t do much before a large hand is wound into his hair and is pulling him hard. He yelps and gets dragged along, the grip in his hair not loosening even as he digs his fingernails into the veiny hand and punches at the thick wrist. 

Kojiro hoists him up, one hand still wound in his hair and the other under his arm. Next thing he knows he’s being dragged upstairs .

He still fights. He tries to kick and punch, wiggles down five steps just to be dragged right back up. He’s too weak. He’s just too weak. 

Then Kojiro is throwing him on a bed and ripping off his clothes. 

“Stop it!” He shouts weakly. 

And Kojiro does. His hands stop on Kaoru’s thighs, inches away from his clothed crotch, still hidden in the thin layer of his briefs. They stare at each other. Kojiro really had become gorgeous. And he wonders if Kojiro is thinking the same thing about him. 

Kaoru lets his head fall back against the bed, spreading his legs only a fraction wider. And then Kojiro continues.

He keeps going and going. 

Kaoru’s skin bruises easily in his hold, he ends up with fingerprint sized cherry blossom petals scattered all over his legs when Kojirou holds them up and mouths all over him. All over his cock, all over his asshole. 

He slathers him in spit animalistically, drooling all over the pink skin of his most private parts. 

Lube materializes and gets poured all over him too. It would almost be romantic if Kojiro didn’t seem so frantic and mad. Didn’t seem like he was in a rush. 

When Kojirou is finally on top of him, dick lined up to asshole, forearms on either side of Kaoru’s head, boxing him in, they look at eachother again. 

“I fucking hate you,” Kaoru says without thinking

“I hate you too,” Kojirou spits back as he plunges deep inside, straight to the hilt. 

It makes Kaoru cry out, borderline screaming as Kojiro jack hammers into him with an intense speed. It's rough and messy, their skin slaps, lube and spit smears, the rhythm is off. Kaoru tries to move his hips too, to keep up with the pace, but he loses himself.

Kojiro grabs at his neck, squeezes slightly. And Kaoru fights too. He spits up into Kojiro’s face and scratches at Kojiro’s back, drawing red tracks over tanned and tattooed skin. He wants to mark him all up. 

Kojiro falls down onto him when he’s about to come, falls into him, and Kaoru takes the opportunity to bite into his meaty shoulder, right over that tacky tattoo. 

“I hate you!” Kaoru yells out again when he comes, sticky globs shooting all over their chests. 

Kojirou just grunts and keeps going, and going. He keeps fucking into Kaoru, speed increasing again. 

“It's all your fault you know.” Kojiro growls, Lifting himself up, snarling into Kaoru’s face.

  
  


“I could have found a pretty girl and gotten married like a normal person but you just had to go and make me fall in love with you right before I left. Fucking asshole. All I could think about for the past six years was  _ you _ .” 

He cries when Kojiro comes inside of him. Of course they forgot the condom in the heat of it. Annoying. Annoying to be marked inside and out by the guy that just confessed his feelings six years too late. . 

  
  
  
  


They stare at the ceiling in silence, laying side by side. Kaoru sniffles. 

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that...about being normal. There’s nothing abnormal about being gay. I just. It's been hard for me to accept myself, even after all this time. Learning I was bi just sort of, it really turned my world upside down,” Kojiro finally says chuckling weakly.

“Bi?” Kaoru says, pushing himself up to lean on his forearm and staring down at Kojirou in surprise.

“Yeah. When I realized I was in love with you I thought I was gay. But I could still date around and sleep with women no problem. It's mostly just you, but men can turn me on and women can too. That's just how it is.”

“Why’d you call me a homo back then. I took that as a rejection, you know. I thought you were..disgusted.” 

Kaoru pouts and Kojiro sits up in bed too, mirroring Kaoru’s earlier surprise. 

“Was that offensive? I just didn’t know you were gay. I didn’t know anything about my sexuality either. I didn’t know and then when you didn’t answer my question for a second I thought the worst. I thought you knew I loved you and were just trying to manipulate me into staying back with you. Because you needed me... as a friend. “

“You idiot,” Kaoru groans, falling back down into the bed. It had all been a horrible misunderstanding. “You know I would have never done something like that. You  _ knew  _ me.”

“You’re right. I knew. But It was really just a surface level excuse for me to put distance between us. I was...I was so confused. When you kissed me it was the first time I ever felt sparks. It was the first time it ever meant something. I just wanted to run from it because it didn’t make sense.”

Kaoru feels an overwhelming sense of sadness.. 

“Why didn’t you just stay,” Kaoru whispers into the darkness of the room, trying to fight back more tears. “If you had stayed we could have talked all this out ages ago.”

“Honestly Kaoru, in that instant, I wanted you to say you would come with me.”

“Eh? How fucking selfish of you is it to expect me to leave everything behind for you.”

“How selfish was it of you to expect me to drop the only thing I could succeed at to stay here with you.” 

“....touché”

The bickering dies down and Kaoru scooches closer, touching his arm to Kojiro’s, wanting even a bit of Kojiro’s warmth. 

“I love you too. I always loved you,” Kaoru whispers. 

Kojiro finds his hand under the sheet and intertwines their fingers. 

  
  
  
  



End file.
